Another Arena
by naomi-in-neverland
Summary: Based on Catching Fire, though Katniss really is pregnant, the arena is slightly different, and the story starts at the countdown in the arena. Please review, Katniss&Peeta lovers!
1. Only just begun

_I did not write The Hunger Games, Catching Fire or Mockingjay. Everything is by Suzanne Collins. Only some plots are by me._

_Ladies and gentlemen, let the 75__th__ Annual Hunger Games begin!_

I was standing on the platform, counting down to sixty, and taking in my surroundings.

The arena was nothing like I'd ever seen before.

For one thing, it's surrounded by water. An arena filled with water. It seemed to be night time, because the sky was black. Though it was tinged with red. The colour of blood..

One thought flashed through my head.

_This is no place for a girl on fire…_

Thirty seconds left, and I looked at my fellow tributes.

I saw Finnick next to me, looking around as well. Though still portraying that arrogant look.

Mags was on my other side, her face neutral.

I tried looking for Peeta but he was nowhere in sight. Probably blocked by the giant Cornucopia in front of me. I tried to keep this fact from distressing me.

Ten seconds left. I was observing the weapons in a big pile at the Cornucopia. A bow and arrow!

Five seconds, and I'm bracing myself, all the while wondering how I'm supposed to get to the Cornucopia.

Then it hit me.

_I'm supposed to swim!_

Three seconds, two, one, and I'm jumping into the water.

It's seawater. I can taste the salt on my lips.

The jumpsuit I'm wearing lets me glide through the water easily. Honestlyy, Cinna. How do you do it?

The thought of my stylist gives me a pang of sadness. What happened to him? Why did the Capitol want to harm him?

I'm at the platform to the Cornucopia in minutes.

I look around me and see that no one has reached it yet.

I managed to fish out the bow and arrow, a wooden one that strangely reminded me of home just a little bit, but my hunter instincts alerted me. I could sense someone behind me.

I spun around, bow already loaded, to see Brutus standing there, spear in hand. His leer was terrible.

I judged how quickly it would take my arrow to penetrate his brain, to when his spear would enter my chest.

Without thinking, I sent an arrow aimed at his throat, but he deflected it with his belt. Wha-? How did that happen?

In the time I took to be confused, Enobaria came forth without me knowing straight away and threw her dagger towards my stomach.

No! My baby is in there!

I dodged, but the dagger didn't entirely miss and sank itself into my side. The pain was instantaneous.

I drew out a loud scream, and clutched my side. Sobs choked my throat, and not just because of the stabbing pain.

What if my child was harmed? Well, I know I wasn't planning on getting out of this arena alive with my baby. Peeta had to be the one to survive. But, I mean. I don't know. It felt like my one personal ally.

I got my bearings, though I was losing a lot of blood, and grabbed my now scarlet bow and arrow, aiming it towards the tribute who wounded me, but I couldn't see anyone.

I stumbled around to the edge of the platform, looking for Peeta, when a hand grabbed my wrist.

I turned quickly, and..

'Peeta!' He was standing there, looking exhausted but unharmed, dripping wet.

He gave me a lazy smile, but it turned into a look of concern as he saw my hand at my side.

I looked down, and saw that my hand and most of my water suit was dripping scarlet.

All I could feel before I fell was Peeta's hands catching me and shouting my name with worry, before I was succumbed to darkness.

A/N:

OK guys, so how'd you like it? I apologise for how short it is!

The chapter, I mean. Not the story eheh.

I'm incredibly new to all this story writing, so sometimes I can't get the jist of it.

I will be making future chapters longer though!

Please review, maybe even just to show me you're reading, anything. Even critisism! Nothing rude though, please.

I'll be posting again maybe tonight or tomorrow morning/afternoon.

New chapter every day!

-Naomi


	2. Danger, Dismay and Misery

The first thing I was aware of when I woke up was a pain in my left side.

I groaned and blearily opened my eyes, and found, what was the word..?

A jungle!

The word was almost foreign to my mind, but not completely. I'd heard my father talk about the place occasionally.

With a lot of sharp cries and moans, I managed to get myself in an upright position, and immediately took in my surroundings.

Tall, thin, rubbery-looking trees with spiky leaves were everywhere.

The ground was soft, soft with moss.

I could spot various animals, but none seemed harmful.

I pulled myself to my feet, with only a slight wince, and started walking a bit.

I took note of all the animals.

There were furry little things, similar to rats. Or possums.

There were also birds with colourful feathers. I was about to shoot one down when I realised I hadn't brought my bow with me.

_Darn it.._

'KATNISS!' A familiar voice suddenly screams. I'm jumped out of my annoyed stupor, and run for the boy I love, the boy with the bread.

I crash through the jungle earth, snatching vines out of my way, when I crash into someone and lay sprawled on the ground.

I let out a guttural noise of pain, but I'm quickly hauled upward.

Thinking it was another tribute, getting ready to kill me, I hastily shoved them off me, but upon seeing it was Peeta, I let out an embarrassing shriek and ran at him again, smashing into his strong arms.

So much pain! It was horrible! I immediately hunched into a crouching position, clutching my side.

Peeta was.. Peeta was crying? Sure enough, his sobs could be heard.

'Don't you _ever _do that to me again!' he sobbed, and pulled me into his arms once again.

'P-Peeta, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare y-' I was cut off by Peeta.

'You just running off like that! Without waking me up!' He cried. Now I felt bad.

'I'm sorry. Peeta, I'm sorry.' Was all I could say. I stroked his blonde hair as he clung onto me, as though he thought I'd drift away if he let go. He eventually regained his composure, and let go of me. Though his face was red and puffy.

'Hey,' I whispered. 'You alright there? It's not like I died.'

'You could've. I thought you did.' Peeta replied defensively. His eyes then went to my side, and his eyes softened. 'Come on, your wound is bleeding.'

We walked, me stumbled, back to where I first woke up, and actually saw that Peeta had made a sort of hut. How long was I out?

I voiced my question, and Peeta shrugged. 'I don't really know. At least a night. You did lose a lot of blood though.' He cringed.

'Did you see how many died in the bloodbath?' I asked, sitting down while he tended to my cut.

I only just saw what it was like then, and Peeta had wrapped it in moss. Very absorbent stuff, it seems.

When Peeta removed the moss, I almost fainted again.

I gash obviously incredibly deep went as wide as my hand, and it was still bleeding terribly.

I gulped.

So did Peeta, but he tried acting nonchalant. 'Uh, y-yeah. There were twelve people.'

I nodded in understanding, and only winced when Peeta dabbed at a particular painful part of the cut,

Once he was done wrapping my waist in plenty of moss and leaves, we both decided it was best to get our rest.

I insisted we went up a tree, but Peeta immediately argued, claiming I wasn't strong enough.

I eventually complied, though grudgingly, and we both settled down at the camp Peeta made.

I thought I distinctly heard Peeta whispering the words, 'Haymitch', 'Medecine,' and, 'Sober.'

I snuggled up closer to him, and dreaded the day I'd wake up, knowing it would only bring danger, dismay and misery.


	3. Poisonous Nuts

When I woke up, I found that my side didn't hurt anymore. It was just a little tender. How did that happen..?

I sat up quickly, though that was a bit of a mistake because the pain hadn't entirely left, and looked for Peeta.

He was sitting close by, eating some nuts I hadn't seen before.

'Peeta!' I yelled. He looked up frightened. 'What are you doing? Those could be poisonous!'

I struggled to get up, but when I did, I stumbled over to Peeta to grab the nuts.

He swung them out of my reach, triumph set on his face, obviously thinking he'd won the challenge.

I scowled. _Obviously_ he didn't know I was born a fighter.

Backing away slightly, much to Peeta's momentary confusion, I braced myself.

Then I ran at him, and kicked my leg out, hitting him square in the jaw.

He fell over backwards, along with the nuts, and I came soon after.

'Ah-hah!' I yelled in victory, and put them in my pocket.

I smirked at Peeta as he surfaced, rubbing his jaw.

'What the _Hell _was that?' He asked. I had to hold back a laugh.

I moved slowly closer to him, until our lips were a mere inch apart. 'My survival skills.'

And with that, I gave him a teasing, drawn-out kiss, pulled back, and searched for my bow.

'You know, Katniss, those weren't poisonous.' Peeta suddenly said, obviously referring to the nuts.

'How would you know?' I countered stubbornly.

'Because I've been eating them non-stop since I woke up, which was about two hours again.' He replied, grinning at me.

I sighed. It was like a never-ending battle between the two of us.

'So you just decided to eat some random nuts you'd never heard of, running the risk that they could kill you instantaneously, or later on?' I ask nonchalantly.

Peeta looks at me like I'm stupid. 'Oh, yeah,' He replies sarcastically. 'That's exactly what I did.'

I scowl my infamous scowl once again, and turn away, only to feel his arms snake around my waist, to rest on my lower abdomen.

'How are you both holding up?' He murmurs softly from over my shoulder. I smile, in spite of myself.

'We'd both be better if we didn't have an idiotic father and husband, making me kick him in the face.' I replied. He wasn't winning that easily.'

I could almost see his frown. It was hilarious.

'That hurt.'

'Good.'

Peeta turned me around to face him, and I stared up into his crystal blue eyes, like the sea itself, as he looked into my dull grey eyes. Peeta always said they were beautiful, but I dobted just as much.

Peeta put his hand to my chin, and said, 'You know I love you.'

I swallowed thickly, willing the tears not to come.

_Why must he say such things?_

'I-I love you too.' I say weakly, and give a watery laugh.

Peeta smiles, then lets me go. 'Well, we should probably start heading somewhere else. We can't just stay in one particular spot the entire time. We'll need water.'

I figured I had enough strength to climb up a tree, see if I could see any water. But that thought reminded me of something else.

'Hey Peeta, how did I heal so quickly?'

'Oh, that.' Peeta replied. He went into the hut for a couple of seconds, then came back out holding a little container with a parachute. He was grinning. 'Maybe Haymitch isn't as useless after all.' He says jokingly.

I crawl up the tree in search of water, but find that there's only the saltwater from the Cornucopia.

I come back down and tell Peeta this, and get a frown in return.

'But then how are we supposed to survive? There must be a food source somewhere. The Games will only last a couple of days.' Peeta says.

'Maybe they want the Quell over and done with.' I contemplate grimly.

In the end we both decided there must be a small pond somewhere, so we take apart the hut, so no one knows we stopped here, and go on our way, linking hands.

**A/N:**

**Arrghhh, I'm really sorry for how boring that chapter was. But, I had to give Katniss some time to heal! We can't have a weak Mockingjay, now, can we?**

**New chapter tomorrow morning probably, or afternoon. Oh, and I feel like I'm typing to myself. I haven't gotten any reviews, which sucks. Ah well. I only started my story today harharhar. But please read, and let me know you have, so I can get encouragement! Encouragement helps me write! Thank youuu, non-existent dearies. **


	4. Stupid but Important AN

**A/N: (Just realised I got four reviews.)**

**OHMYLORD. NOW I SHALL DEFINITELY WRITE ARGHARGHARGH.**

**Thank you to deliriousLover, EmmaRizcool and Keena Hansen for being my first ever reviewers!**

**I have extreme writer's block, and I've only written like three chapters bahaha.**

**So feel free to PM me any ideas! Don't worry, you will, of course, receive credit. **

**PLEASE READ. VERY IMPORTANT. To much of your disappointment, who am I kidding, or maybe not, this chapter is just my author's note to go over some stuff with you all.**

**I'm hoping this story will be one of my top priorities, despite my schoolwork, what with tests and that, argh.**

**But I'm also hoping to be a writer/artist when I'm older, so could help me out with my writing skills.**

**Feel free to point out any flaws, because I know I have plenty. My problem is that I never properly go over my chapters before I publish them, so I get plny o typs :DD**

**But anywhoo, this is how it'll work.**

**I'll post at least one chapter a day, that'll have at least 500 words or more, or I'll post more than one chapter a day if I'm in a writing mood and I have a gazillion ideas. I'll most likely write way more than 500 words once I get the hang of this story writing thing, but yeah.**

**I'm just really willing to get my story out there!**

**I'm the type of person that, if you messaged me at around 7:00 in the morning, I'd get back to you around 8:30 in the morning. I'm pretty much always on. And I don't do much at all at lunchtime, so I could maybe even do half a chapter then.**

**Thing is, I'm incredibly active, so you won't have to worry about cliffhangers on my part for long.**

**One last thing! I'm not the type of person that would just completely give up on a story without giving a head's-up warning, or if I have reviewers. I will follow this story out until the end, and make it so good you will be begging for more. Maybe not. But it will be super juicy! Maybe I'll make a sequel if I can be bothered, and if you enjoy this one.**

**Ok! Boring information-filled chapter over! But, it was important and I hope you read!**

**Thank you, and may the odds be **_**ever**_** in your favour.**


	5. Darkness

After a while of trudging on through the jungle, we came to an open area, but I noticed that in front of us the air was wavering slightly.

Peeta was about to step forward, when I flung my arm out to stop him.

'No! It's a forcefield, see?' I say, picking up one of the nuts Peeta deemed unpoisonous and throwing it at the space in front of us.

A fizzing noise could be heard, and then the nut bounced back, its shell black.

I gave Peeta an exasperated look, took his hand, and started walking away from the area I thought was the forcefield. But I placed my foot wrong, and the next thing I know is darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

I gave a long, drawn-out breath, gasping for air as a pain in my chest wracked my lungs.

I coughed and sputtered, trying to get air in. _My chest! The pain!_

I could feel something wet on my face, but never mind that. I needed to get up! Where was Peeta when you needed him?

I struggled upwards, and realised someone was holding onto me tightly, shaking terribly.

'_Katniss!_ Oh god, Katniss.' Peeta sobbed into my hair, clutching me tighter to his chest.

What? What was going on? 'Peeta,' I said. My voice was awfully hoarse for some reason. 'Peeta, w-what's going on?'

Peeta shudders against my body, and moves slightly away from me so I can see his face. Beneath his dishevelled and heartbroken state, there's evident confusion. 'What do you mean?' He asks me. 'Don't you know?'

I frowned. 'Don't I know what?'

Peeta grimaced, then pushed me close to him again. 'Katniss. Katniss, your heart failed. You died.' He cried into my ear.

Shock.

That was what registered everywhere around me.

What? How could that be? How did that happen? I can't just _die. _Things like that don't happen in the arena!

With much effort, I managed to pry Peeta off of myself, and stumbled to get myself on my feet, when Peeta swooped forward and let me balance onto him.

That was when I realised we weren't alone.

Finnick and Mags were there, sitting nearby looking sombre. I gave them a questioning look, but they merely stared back.

I looked at Peeta. He was looking incredibly grateful at Finnick, who in turn stared at the ground.

I must be missing something here..?

'Katniss,' Peeta started. 'You, uh, you stepped into the forcefield without realising. You must not have felt anything, because it was pretty much instantaneous. I was shouting so much that I attracted, um, Finnick and Mag's attention. They came and saw what happened. Finnick immediately went into action, uh, r-reviving you.' By this time Peeta had crumbled into a sodden mess again against my shoulder, and I awkwardly patted his shoulder, all the while looking at Finnick.

He was still staring at the ground.

'Well, uh, thanks. Finnick.' I say. That's when he looks up, and he quickly returns that cocky look he plays so well.

'Ah, it was nothing, Girl on Fire.' He smirks, and I smile weakly at him. I guess the four of us are allies.

I suggest we head on our way, but Peeta immediately interrupts.

'Wait, Katniss, you just, j-just _died._ You need rest.'

I roll my eyes at him. _He still doesn't know I was born a fighter._

'Peeta, I'm fine. I'll be alright if we just take everything slow. We need to get somewhere here. There _must_ be water around.'

Peeta still looks unsure, so I walk forwards to emphasise my strength.

He finally complies, and we once again set off. But as soon as we set through some vines, away from the forcefield, we meet some unwanted predators.

'Well, if it isn't Lover Boy and Girl on Fire. Get em', En.' Came a mocking gruff voice.

I inwardly groaned. _Why can't I just get a couple of hour's peace?_

Peeta, Mags, Finnick and I don't wait another second to sprint into the other direction, but I soon lose breath. Peeta grabs me and picks me up. I knew he was strong, but I probably underestimated his strength.

After a while of running, or me being jumbled around in Peeta's arms, we finally lost track of Brutus and Enobaria.

Peeta lays me out against a tree, while he kneels, gasping for breath, along with Finnick, who carried Mags.

I only just remembered something.

Panicking, I cried, 'Peeta, the baby!'

He looked up towards me, confusion set on his face, then realisation dawned on him.

His face drowned of all colour, until he was as pale as white sheets, and dropped to his knees by my side.

'No..' He mutters. 'I-it's got to be alright.'

I can only hold onto that small piece of hope.


	6. Leaving

I was quite devastated.

What would happen if my baby died? I sound so selfish. I don't plan on getting out of this arena alive, but I also can't willingly let this baby die. My baby die. And neither will Peeta. Now he's an obstacle I'll have to look out for..

I hear him sniffling behind me, so I turn around and find that his face is red and puffy. He's obviously been crying. "Oh, Peeta," I say sadly, moving over to him. "Please, don't cry. We don't know for sure about- about the.. the baby." I can't let him know I'm going to do all I can to make him win the Quarter Quell. I just know he would somehow talk me out of it, into making me see sense into having me be the winner. No, it's best if he doesn't know.

Peeta looks up at me, sniffs one more time, and crushes me to him. "I w-will do everything I c-can to get y-you and our baby out of h-here." he says softly and desperately into my ear, hiccuping profusely.

A wave of guilt and misery washes over me, because he doesn't know about me and Haymitch's plan. So I say nothing and let him hold me. That was our little peace for the Games. Now it's time to kick arse.

I pull away from Peeta with a determined look in my eye. "Come on. I'm sick of playing the oh-so distressed pregnant teenager. We have to get through this, and we will."

If I'm going to get Peeta to win these Games, I can't have an allies.

Peeta looks at me adoringly, but I continue to stare at him in my determined state, so he does the same. "I'm ready." he says.

I smirk, take his hand, and tell Mags and Finnick that we're flying solo.

"Why, Katniss? It's not safe." Finnick says, and I almost believed the concern in his voice. Then I remembered we're in the Games.

"It doesn't matter. We're all here for a reason."

And with that, I left with my my bow and arrow safely on my shoulder, and Peeta's hand in my own.

I'm not afraid anymore. Let the Tributes come. I'll be ready.

**A/N: Ugh, super short. And I apologise. But I needed to get something in there to seperate Katniss and Peeta from Finnick and Mags. You'll see later!**


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